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Monday, February 13, 2012

Wanted Poster Lesson Plan

Today was a discouraging day at school. My lesson plan for today went fine, but it felt lackluster.

:(

We are currently learning about the independence movements of Latin America and being introduced to Toussaint L'Ouverture, Miguel Hidalgo, and Simon Bolivar. My lesson plan required them to fold their paper in half, creating 4 sections (2 on front, 2 on back). Then they were to give each person their own box, detailing Who, What, When, Where, Why. The 4th box was for "What they all had in common". I gave them the opportunity to work in their learning teams, but most of them declined and chose instead to work independently. It appropriately covered the content, but it just felt blah!

To continue the lesson tomorrow, I wanted to give them some way to practice using their knowledge but wasn't sure how. Then, while riding home from La Parilla with my shmoopie, it came to me...

WANTED POSTERS!

Since all 3 of the independence movement leaders were infamous to their European empire enemies, it would make sense to create a wanted poster. The Europeans did not want a powerful, educated, leader with the passion and ability to lead the people to revolution!

On their poster, I'm going to ask them to include:

Name of the person

Illustration

Who wants them and why

The reward

What to do if he's found

Date of poster publication

Hopefully this spices things up a bit. I am going to have them share theirs with the class at the end to really drive the message home! Wish me luck!

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UPDATE 2/14/2012:
I did this activity today and the kids were excited about it. Some problems I encountered:

Some students finished really fast while others took their time (typically, the more time spent, the better the poster). This happens with almost every activity I do and I'm not quite sure how to fix it.

Some students tried making theirs look old (which I encouraged) but then the product was difficult to read/see.

I wish I had made an exemplar prior to giving the assignment (duh) but I ran out of time. I think this would have given my students a better idea of my expectations.

UPDATE 2/18/2012:
Here are some of the posters the kids made. Didn't they turn out great?! As a fun twist, I've hung a bunch up all over the school, so they're like real wanted posters! Be on the lookout!